Developer: King Art
Publisher: THQ Nordic
Rrp: £17.99 (Gog.com) £17.99 (Steam), £17.99 (Humblebundle)
Released: 5th December 2012
Available on: Steam, Gog.com and Humblebundle
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
This is the area where I would usually try to write a slightly artful introduction to the world of the game I’d be reviewing except… well, this time the review is going to be short, I’m sorry there’s just no dodging the fact that it will be. In fact this very paragraph is me trying in vain to somehow stretch this out. Perhaps I should stop beating about the bush and get on with it.
The Book of Unwritten Tales: The Critter Chronicles is a standalone prequel to the game The Book of Unwritten Tales. It’s a point and click adventure game in the vein of classics like The Curse of Monkey Island or Day of the Tentacle.
Since this is a prequel you get to play as Nate Bonnett and Critter as the other characters from the original game haven’t been introduced yet.
Its a graphical upgrade to the last game with the character models and backgrounds having slightly more polish to them. The voice acting seems to have improved as well, occasionally the original game would have side characters who you could barely hear due to the audio quality.
I found that the humour was a bit more hit and miss than in the original game. The puzzles also seemed more convoluted too, then again, what am I saying? Its a point and click adventure game, of course the puzzles are convoluted.
On the subjected of convoluted puzzles, do you want to make the game even harder? Well now you can! With the new hard mode that adds extra puzzles and gives fewer hints.
Sadly this game has got some bugs which can prevent progress or at least hinder it. In my case the game crashed on a loading screen between chapters forcing me to start from my last save (which was thankfully not far off). This seems to have been a one off as I managed to finish the game without issue afterward but I can’t not mention it.
Honestly, what can I say? If you liked The Book of Unwritten Tales or just like point and click adventures games then this is probably going to appeal. My only real issue is the price of the game due to how long it is or rather how short it is. I’d say its probably half as long as the original game but the RRP is the same. I think perhaps grab it on a sale.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Day of the Tentacle
The Curse of Monkey Island
Deponia
